Headlines

More Topics

Weather Forecast

Letter: Vogel will support businesses

By Chris Davis, Willmar on Oct 13, 2010 at 12:00 a.m.

It's time for the voters in District 13B in Kandiyohi County to elect a real representative who will fight to ease the tax burden on small business and citizens in our county and keep good jobs here in Minnesota.

Our current representative, Al Juhnke, has a poor voting record when it comes to protecting small business from the over-reaching hand of government. One glaring example can be found in the past year's session, where Juhnke voted no on a major amendment which would have reduced the small-business tax from 9.8 percent to 4.8 percent in a gradual phase down over 10 years

The amendment would have also reduced the business alternative minimum tax from 5.8 percent to 2.8 percent by stepping it down over the same 10-year period. That would have put Minnesota's tax rate among the lowest in the country.

Of course, Juhnke and the majority on the left complained about the "cost" of reducing taxes. The "cost" to state government in the next biennium would be about $75 million. But what Juhnke and his friends in the left never seem to understand is that keeping that $75 million in the private economy can only be a good thing for families and job creators, and will encourage businesses to hire more people and stay in Minnesota.

No social engineering here, no winners and losers, just common sense. I am a small business owner in District 13B and this issue is so important to me that I have chosen to work on the committee of another small business owner and candidate for the state Legislature: Bruce Vogel.

As an active small-businessman working as a realtor in Kandiyohi County, Bruce Vogel knows firsthand the challenges facing small business, and when elected, will work hard with legislators on both sides of the aisle to lower the tax burden and encourage businesses to stay in Minnesota. Bruce Vogel will truly be a great representative for Kandiyohi County.